Wednesday 28 March 2018

Mini graffiti...


After I'd finished personalising Ada's studio (links below) I wanted to decorate the exterior wall with graffiti. I imagined bloowabbit's studio to be situated in a artsy area which would be reflected on the outside. I have never tried writing graffiti so first step was to do a little research.


 images of street art found on Pinterest without links attached
  • Checked out my Pinterest 'doodles...' page where I also collect street art images.
Photograph of Shamsia Hassani by Omar Sobhani/Reuters via The Guardian
  • Watched some YouTube videos and shared them on my Bloowabbit facebook page. Graffiti appears to have been a male-dominated art form but more female graffiti artists are now being recognised and respected. 

  • As per any specific art form there's also graffiti-speak - read through Art Crimes Graffiti Glossary. To get to know a culture, first get to know its language (this glossary is mostly NYC based).

  • Found Graffiti Empire and followed the step-by-step tutorial on How to Draw Graffiti. They have a useful graffiti alphabet which can be copied or used as inspiration.
Graffiti Empire tutorial:





So that's my first go at creating a piece. I'm happy enough with it and the tutorial's a clear and easy way to start. If I were to redraw this I might do the 3D effect differently. It was a good vanishing point exercise but I'm not sure it gels with my style of drawing. Plus, it's the style of the tutorial author. And in future I'll probably use more vibrant blues.

But I'm well happy with the wabbit image made from the 2 lower case b's back to back - reversing letters is a tip mentioned in the tutorial. I think I've found my tag! I worked directly on the mini studio wall using permanent markers because of the size and adding the image of the character bloowabbit's head. The result has more texture than paper but the colour intensity is lighter than paint would have been.

Final image on paper:


And on the exterior wall:




I feel the 3D effect isn't as marked as I'd like it to be so I'll probably develop that further. 

I'm currently doing some 're-dos' of doodles and drawings plus trying to make a short video but there's also an art challenge coming up called Eye Doodle Challenge and it's hosted by Sea Lemon - it's an interesting one and worth checking out (link below).









Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Wednesday 21 March 2018

Teeny tiny art...pt 2


Pt 2 of personalising the dollhouse kit 'Ada's Studio'...and filling it with bloowabbit art.


The tiny art I made for the mini studio turned out better than I'd hoped although I needed to draw and re-draw them to get the scale right within the frames. I like the vividness of the studio hung with vibrantly coloured art.


I was so pleased with the canvas on the easel and it's how I imagine translating February's doodles into full-size paint-on-canvas. I made a tiny black A4 sketchbook which is what I tend to use, complete with some little sketches. A maulstick sits beside it and a paint rag hangs over the top of the easel. Much of this detail mightn't be obvious when the parts are glued in situ...but I'll know they're there.

The Greco-Roman statue would have been so out of place (as would green plants which I'm really bad at looking after) so I painted it in colours that I frequently use.



On the floor are tiny copies of art I drew when I was small - 2 images my parents kept over the years. Apparently I was asked what the amorphous drawing was of and 3 year old me replied 'It's a Snud'. The red drawing was of 'Tankgirl' after my sister suggested I draw what I saw out the window. I began to draw a concrete tank near the hen house but 7 year old me soon got bored and instead doodled with the red biro. Those two drawings are now lost but are part of my personal art history.


To finish the studio I wanted to do something with the exterior walls. A quick learning curve of YT tutorials and looking at exaggerated letter fonts before writing my bloowabbit name graffiti-style. There'll be a follow-up blog about making that.

And here are the images of Ada's studio transformed into blowabbit's studio...









I loved most of the kit, especially the paint splattered floor and the industrial feel of the room. There were plants, vases and ornaments which I chose not to use. I've had great fun completing this project and I'm hoping to upload a short video. 
Meanwhile...there's a Robotime bookshop I've my eye on...

Teeny tiny art - pt 1

Robotime website




Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Wednesday 14 March 2018

Teeny tiny art....pt 1.





Back in November, during the Black Friday sales, I bought myself a DIY Dollhouse kit - 'Ada's Studio'. I've assembled some smaller scenes inside tins before but have been wanting to try a larger kit for a while. 



When I opened it I saw that the box contains images of Old Masters, modern art and a Greco-Roman sculpture. (Perhaps Ada's an art forger?) My version of the studio will display tiny examples of bloowabbit art. 



I cut out the printed art that came with the kit, measured it and began to draw copies of art I'd already done. I picked pieces I liked and also drew new images. I did think about printing miniature versions of my work but part of the fun with this project was to create actual tiny art.  


I flicked through the instruction leaflet to find the step-by-steps on how to assemble the easel - this was what had caught my eye in the kit. Making it was straightforward. It reminded me of days in the life room at college and even the drawer on this tiny replica works. 
I 'stretched' the little canvas but had to insert a piece of card under the fabric as the frame outline was visible (no ¼ beading included). After painting the surface white (priming) I drew an image with a 0.05 black fine liner similar to the doodles from last month's  #februdoodle
Using a permanent marker I changed the colour of the brown frames to black.


One of the best things was setting the scene, adding paint marks, drips and graffiti to the table. I changed some things along the way and added sticks of charcoal.


Instead of bags of erasers I created bags of pigment and size. I love that wonky table.

Discovered there were no batteries included so the light/LED had to wait until I bought some. Maybe this was why the kit was reduced for Black Friday. I find this happens from seller to seller - sometimes the glue is missing. 

I've had to split this blog into 2 parts as the battery on my iphone, which is my camera, stopped working...new battery on the way. As soon as it arrives I'll take the rest of the photos and post pt 2.

Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Wednesday 7 March 2018

The ones that got away...


During the art challenge I'd set myself in February ( #februdoodle@bloowabbit ) I didn't only draw a single doodle per day. Occasionally I drew two or even three which meant that I sometimes had to choose which doodle to upload. 

These are the doodles that got away...








I like the single eye, it's similar to the day 7 doodle although it was drawn a week later - perhaps because I liked the image it reappeared. The 'block painting' and eye was drawn on top of a doodle that wasn't going anywhere. Others are overdone, doodles taken too far. Some are bridges between one style and another, and some are just strange - like the Minotaur or the small bug-eyed creature. I am frequently surprised by what comes out of my doodling.

There's an Inuit story I like (and frequently mention). A bone carver was producing some strange carvings and in understanding why he was doing so his fellow carvers remarked that he'd been finding some strange bones, implying that the form grew from the bone. The carver's hands merely freed what was inside. Sometimes doodling feels like this. I never know what's going to appear.

Once again, thanks to everyone who followed the challenge and left me likes and words of encouragement. Next week the blog will show how I personalised a DIY dollhouse studio with mini examples of my art and processes. Tweezers, glue and indigo air...